FOUR local groups could have their community transport funding slashed or cut completely under new Leicestershire County Council proposals to save £50,000 as part of a huge cost exercise.

The Shree Ram Krishna Centre in Alfred Street, Loughborough, currently receives £10,000 per year from the council for community transport purposes but this funding will be removed entirely if the proposals are approved.

The project’s funding will be removed gradually; it will receive £7,000 in 2016-17, £3,000 in 2017-18 and no funding afterwards.

John Storer House in Loughborough, the Shepshed Community Bus and Castle Donington Volunteer Centre are just three of the 13 other community transport providers across the county that will be affected by the plans to reduce the budget by 10 per cent.

The authority’s ruling Cabinet will discuss the proposals this Friday (December 11).

The move comes after the authority announced it faced “an extremely bleak future”, with the amount of savings it needs to make over the next few years expected to rise to £130m.

Community groups are currently funded by the council to provide transport for mobility impaired passengers through community minibus services and volunteer drivers using their own cars.

According to the council, the levels of funding for community transport groups vary across the county, having grown on an ad-hoc basis.

Peter Osborne, council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “We’ve worked closely with community transport providers on these proposals to ensure we have a consistent approach to levels of funding.

“We are faced with some tough savings but believe community transport should remain an integral part of providing support to some of the most vulnerable members of the community.

“A phased introduction of these changes will help to reduce any impact to providers and passengers, while also offering time for groups to look at introducing new ways to support their communities.”

Following a consultation with transport providers, councillors will be asked to approve plans to introduce a new funding scheme which takes into account the areas transport groups cover and the number of journeys provided.

The proposed funding arrangements would also see the transport providers’ management costs being limited to 15 per cent which will be introduced gradually, from a cap of 25 per cent in 2015/16, and 20 per cent in 2016/17.

Under the proposed funding formula, some groups would see their funding increase, while others would see a reduction, according to the council.

Cabinet will discuss the proposal at 2pm on Friday (December 11). The meeting will be webcast live.

The proposal is just one of many cuts that the council expects to have to make over the next few months.

Deputy leader and finance spokesman Coun Byron Rhodes said the county council faces “an extremely bleak future”, with the amount of savings it needs to make over the next few years expected to rise to £130m.

He claims that Leicestershire is the lowest funded county council, receiving £83m less than East Sussex and £56m less than Oxfordshire. Coun Rhodes warned that some “very tough decisions” would have to be made when creating the council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy in the near future, including service reductions as well as other savings.